Hand truck with automatic load support adjustment



1954 A. PUIG sALsAs ,6 1

HAND TRUCK WITH AUTOMATIC LOAD SUPPORT ADJUSTMENT Filed July 9, 1951 INVENTOR. Ru?- Q/ fitter e75,

Patented Jan. 5, 1954 HANDITRUCK -WITH AUTOMATIOL'OAD SUPPOR'IK'ADJUSTMENT i eie ii $151M, Bede onm pe A p tem's 1in e 5195 1, Serial No. 235,120-

enplioation Th p esentinrentij at iqi yhe th eu om ic qad el pert Mqreconcrete mth in eri q hand. r ks of theicla e. red fin a ing of the qbiect-teh imi eq -pe m by means oflateral arms, adapted toebe; 010s against-the same und'erv'the agtion of other iajrrns coming into engagement with theiobjee tnleferrepli to, when the truck :is approached; thereto-for-ritsraising.

In spite of the excellent services-elentobyithe trucks of. the .c1asst set forth theyheve. the; inconvenienc'eithat, dueto. the fact. ofchavin'g only.

lateral action arms for..c1'amping. andxsi'multaneously raisingv thezobjeet-it. is necessary that the said arms: be provided with adequate fixtures in:-

order to. ensure a i true seizing of: the .object in those cases wherein the same -b'e nnprovideduo't snrfaee cavities or recesses tomake'. the seizing Theiob'j ect-of the present invention "is to' eliminat'e said inconvenience and to extend the use fuln'esshof th'e harid trucks' with automatic load support adjustment-to melee them adaptable for raisingohie'ctsihavin'g any-shIpe ,'hy the combine tion of said l'aterzil" corfinressing action an automatic deviee direetljoperatew-by means of suitable movements ofthejtrnck Withontassi'st ance of'an'y other anxjil'iar meme editable d'i vetting the attention of the oper a torg 1 its W'o'rking takes; plletee i'nijnoccupied tr m me on;

dfe' t eun r, a -l l' si siar th fle emene charged with slipper-ting the objeet sincenownpv to the moment the center of gravity of the same passes ejcros's th etrtiel line which comprises the tilting point of the object upon the fioor, in which morfient the Handles-of the truck result placed in the most convenientp'osition for the transportation ofiv the whole. 1

Accordingly with the ventipn the, eo n tro 1 means oonsist of a mating erm grnaleq. eteaeh s e afl i ii the iqwew np ev jd s ri bfelt hayin a depien me portion Connected substantially at, rightv angles M-tr oemqv ni nts qi hel e ii bf seidf een nep t i h flbbiu ion' of thitrugi q a p e, f-l tt relaeti n v w r eea h F q -illem be nier krh me t. tnew; on. il miqeiin eeralwi h the contr 11f .1 i d re teqlther tofby means one, P g Whi h terllcis f to -r oscillate them. towards-the. e e ih tiueke t t ,E'ajeh' onjeiot seiderir s oemjesxspectiw driving. meens eonsisting of afil idfi member arranged;- longitudinally thereof and having anzuppehrfl hey-ed p rtiq ,q0pe.r,atine, with- 1a, sto fixed to a s p t; integrel; with; the truck;v frame said": snip por rnorepyer-serviil'g as supporting meansfoi the'tweig ht of the object to bemi'sed;

, seigl erms are further:providedl.with suplio'tting' bledesfor thenbjeet to beerai'sediorme'd byla' lower end thereof suitablybent toward'sthe c" r ofthe truckanolhttving length enoil'h' 6 provi 'c ie alsub'stantial base-forseidwei'gh'ti Irrorderrtomalie the xpl'a'nefibfi-mo present i .sne' cifiezitiorf aceom'p ferred emlooflirner'it oi the imien of examp e, is shownin the ec m a yin i 111 roe a1 3 sa at} onst tntingflth .eor1 tr o1 me s (:omtnriettion' withedepending 1 0mm v I t" adiptefto r ii lengthier the. depen ing" tee h fleeing beff refierred t'o'lis suchithzit in ili eei emen tr. 10a ed, the con tae t. of; se id rol lefr 5 tmi T, wh c ;v i;i theeadiu im nt; if he 9 11 9 mew L end i t reade we pne tefir w ich; in i turn di pos d nite et ith th corres ionfiin g hanglle of the-truck sa d 1'.

in 1 i f longitudinal trunnion 9, whereupon a lateral action automatic clamping means is connected in a rocking manner. Said clamping means comprises one arm l which has one end H suitably bent towards the center of the truck, thus constituting the supporting means for the object to be raised when moved thereunder in response to the action of springs l2.

The driving means for those clamping means consist of a guide i3 disposed alongside its corresponding arm [0, having a relieved upper portion I4 arranged to cooperate with a stop #5 integral with support 8. The stop I 5 runs over the whole length of the guide 13 following the protruding and relieved portions thereon, thus separating or allowing the blades l I to move underneath the object according to the different positions of the truck relative to the floor.

The described hand truck works as follows.

On putting the truck in a substantially vertical position such as to approach the same to the object to be raised, the roller 5 on the depending portion 4 comes into contact with the floor thus producing rocking of arm 3 which, in its turn, moves away from its stop I in the direction shown by the arrow I6, whereby the stop [5 acts upon the upper portion of guide l3 thus provoking the separation of arms I 0 as indicated by the arrow l1 and allowing the object to enter therebetween.

The truck is now approached towards the object l8 until the arms l9 come into engagement therewith, which arms, as it is already known, are fixed to respective turning bars adapted at their upper ends to embrace or engage the upper part of the object, by the provision of means which are well known.

When the truck is tilted in the direction indicated by the arrow 2|, the object is made to oscillate around the edge 22 and the arm 3 with the other mechanisms coupled therewith oscillates on journal 2 due to its own weight in the direction contrary to that indicated by the arrow l6 until that, when the vertical line which comprises the gravity center of the object becomes close to the edge 22 thereof, the stop I5 runs over the relieved portion I4 of the guide I3 which rests stationary in respect of the floor 6 because the roller 5 of the depending portion 4 has entered into contact therewith, thus allowing the blades l of arms In to move underneath the object by means of the action of the springs l2.

Continuation of the tilting movement of the truck according to arrow 2! allows the arms 3 to come into contact with the stops I, thus constituting a rigid whole with the truck frame, with relation to the contrary movement shown by the arrow I6, and then the blades H apply against the bottom of the object l8 thereby provoking, from this very moment, raising of the same until the position wherein the height of the handle ends is the most comfortable for the transportation of the truck with the object loaded.

In the operation of discharging the object the same phases take place but in the inverse order as hereinafter explained:

First, the object leans upon the floor with its edge 22, then, the blades H come out of engagement from the bottom of said object, due to the different turning radius of said blades relative to the object tilting arms and the points of the object which bear against said blades. Then,

the stops 15 come into engagement with the protruding portions of the guide l3, thus provoking the separation of arms I0 in the direction shown by the arrow H as said stops follow the movement of the truck handles, whilst said guides l5 rest stationary in respect to the floor 6 due to the fact that the rollers 5 at the ends of prolongations 4 have entered into contact with said floor. Upon continuation of the tilting of the truck, the complete leaning of the object upon the floor is reached, whereby, when the retrocession of the truck starts the arms [9 allow the opening of those which embrace the upper portion of said object leaving it completely free.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the form herein described and illustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a hand truck with an automatic load support adjustment, a wheeled truck frame provided with handles, means for embracing an object to be loaded to the truck being used, load support means to be urged under the said object dependin on the relative position of the truck frame with respect to the floor, a gudgeon fixed to each of said handles in a substantially transverse direction to the truck and close to the lower ends of the handles, a fixed support on each of said handles, said fixed supports having adjustable stops, an oscillating arm journaled ahead of the truck, a depending portion on said oscillating arm extending towards the floor when the truck is placed in a substantially vertical position, contact means in the lower end of said depending portion to engage with the floor, both said oscillating arms and said depending portion being adapted to be supported by a corresponding adjustable stop when the truck is moved away from its substantially vertical position and to span the width of an object being loaded, each of said oscillating arms including a trunnion, a depending arm rockingly disposed on said trunnion, saidv depending arm having an in-turned lower end adapted to support the object to be loaded, a cam-shaped guide on said depending arm, an upper portion of said guide, elastic means operatively connected between said oscillating and depending arms to urge the latter towards the center of the truck, a strut fixed with respect to the truck frame, said strut being located to remain out of engagement with said guide to close the depending arms when the truck is tilted back and to come into engagement with said guide, thus oscillating laterally outwardly the said depending arms when the truck is moved to its vertical position.

ANASTASIO PUIG SALSAS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,419,184 Watson June 13, 1922 1,694,343 Klein Dec. 4, 1923 2,077,349 Hobbis Apr. 13, 1937 2,123,669 Von Der Ohe July 12, 1938 2,197,587 Miller Apr. 16, 1940 

